Meet The ISA Team of Agronomists

Meet the ISA Team of Agronomists

By Kriss Nelson, knelson@iasoybeans.com

Utilizing critical thinking, experience and science-based results, the Iowa Soybean Association’s (ISA) field services program managers provide agronomic advice and conduct on-farm trials to help bring research and results to improve soybean yields, profitability and sustainability.

“Our team of agronomists is key to helping answer farmers’ questions,” says Joe McClure, ISA’s Research Center for Farming Innovation (RCFI) co-director of on-farm research. “As agriculture continues to evolve and new cropping practices come into play, there are questions to answer, and our agronomists are on point to figure out those answers to make change successful.”

ISA agronomists, McClure says, have a unique offering to Iowa’s soybean farmers.

“Having our agronomists coordinate with our farmer-members is critical because it comes from the point in the industry where we have the perfect position of unbiased information. We don’t have a product line; we have one thing in mind: the farmer,” he says.

ISA’s agronomists bring a diverse collection of experiences ranging from various ISA tenures, and all have had industry and public sector experience.

“Their experience comes together well as a team, and it’s experience our farmers may not have,” says McClure. “Working on trials, they can do the leg work, guide the farmer through the trials and help translate the data to bring real results.”

Each field service program manager is assigned to a region, and they collaborate to assist farmers throughout the state.

“While I might be the face for our in-field programming in southeast Iowa, I can pull resources and knowledge from the other regions or other RCFI staff,” says Anthony Martin, ISA senior field services program manager.

McClure is excited to help the agronomy team expand.

“We will be taking a more holistic approach to our trials, looking at the entire cropping system,” he says. “I want to see more of an impact in soybean fields. We are doing a great job in many areas, but we also need a greater focus on soybean agronomy.”

Anthony Martin, senior field services program manager, amartin@iasoybeans.com, 319-461-0759.

Anthony Martin

Background: I grew up on a farm near Crawfordsville in southeast Iowa. I graduated from ISU in 2012 with a bachelor’s degree in Ag Business and have worked for ISA for 10 years.

What region and counties of Iowa do you cover?

- Southeast Iowa, east of I-35 and south of Highway 30.

What do you offer to Iowa soybean farmers?

- I enjoy working with farmers, establishing relationships and seeing how our work can impact their operation or be used for the next generation of farmers to make decisions. I have 10 years of experience in the role, managing in-field projects and working with farmers to establish plots and trials that will be beneficial. Imagery work utilizing drone and additional reporting/ analyses for work farmers are doing outside our defined projects.

Within your region, what are some of the best management practices or trials?

- Relay cropping, long-term cover crops, manure and cover crops, methods for establishing a cover crop, nitrogen rate, soybean population, drone-applied fungicide, tillage and biologicals. Other work includes soybean emergence testing, scouting and corn rootworm counts.

Scott Nelson, senior field services program manager, snelson@iasoybeans.com, 515-729-8207.

Scott Nelson

Background: I grew up in cotton and lettuce country in southern Arizona. I was fascinated with crop production and studied agronomy and plant genetics at the University of Arizona. I moved to the Midwest and earned a Master of Science in Crop Production and Physiology from Iowa State University. I have spent 25 years in Iowa working in crop research and crop consulting with Pioneer and, most recently, six years at ISA.

What region and counties of Iowa do you cover?

- Northwest Iowa

What do you offer to Iowa soybean farmers?

- One of my passions is working with farmers to help them achieve their profitability and stewardship goals. I have extensive experience and knowledge of soybean and corn production and soil health promoting systems. Also, I am very excited by the promise of data mining and turning the information into insights.

Within your region, what are some of the best management practices or trials?

- Measuring the fate of manure nitrogen from application throughout the growing season to better understand the nutrient cycling dynamics in crop production and creating a decision tool for farmers. Also, I am helping collect farmer soybean production data to develop a website where farmers can click on their local geography and see a table showing which soybean management practices have led to greater profitability based on production data from hundreds of fields in their area.

Drew Clemmensen, field services program manager, dclemmensen@iasoybeans.com,515-339-4262.

Drew Clemmensen

Background: I grew up in Urbandale, and my love of farming and agriculture came from spending time with my grandparents, who farmed north of Audubon. I graduated from Iowa State University with an Ag Studies degree in 1998. I primarily worked in ag retail in central Iowa before joining ISA in 2018.

What region and counties of Iowa do you cover?

- Southwest Iowa, Highway 30 south and west of I-35.

What do you offer to Iowa soybean farmers?

- I work with farmers to bring valuable and relevant research to their farming operations. This is done by implementing replicated strip trials to evaluate products and practices on farms. Under the farmer’s management systems, I help them better understand how to stay profitable while maintaining or improving the conservation footprint across their farming operation.

Within your region, what are some of the best management practices or trials?

- Early nitrogen applications on cover crops in corn, long-term cover crops and biological products applied both in-furrow and foliar.

Alex Schaffer, field services program manager, aschaffer@iasoybeans.com, 815-274-2998.

Alex Schaffer

Background: I grew up in northeast central Illinois in a small farming community. My dad has been the manager of an ag retail location for nearly 40 years, and most of my uncles are farmers, hence the affinity for agriculture. After high school, I attended the University of Illinois, majoring in crop sciences. I worked near Indianapolis for a private seed company doing small plot research. In 2018, my family and I relocated to Iowa, where I continued working in small plot seed research and just recently transitioned to ISA in May 2022.

What region and counties of Iowa do you cover?

- Northeast Iowa, north of Highway 30 and east of I-35.

What do you offer to Iowa soybean farmers?

- I am new to ISA, bringing 14 years of small plot research in the private seed industry. With this experience, I learned how to conduct research to produce meaningful results. Also, in my time in agriculture, I have realized how much I enjoy working with farmers and value relationships. My goal at ISA is to couple these two things: working with farmers to do research on their farms and producing meaningful results, which can add value to their operation.

Within your region, what are some of the best management practices or trials?

- Relay cropping trials, long-term cover cropping trials, manure and cover cropping systems, fertility management trials, biologicals and other fertility-enhancing additives.